Amala Menon
Amala Menon (1902 – 1998) was a clubwoman in Singapore. She was the founder of the Lotus Club, an early club for Indian and Ceylonese women, and the founding president of its successor, the Kamala Club.
Career
[edit]Menon served on the Cochin Legislative Council in Kochi, India before coming to Singapore.[1] In 1931, she and B. C. Handy founded the Indian and Ceylonese Ladies' Club, which was renamed the Lotus Club in the following year.[2] She served as its honorary secretary,[3] and later as its president.[4]
In May 1951, the Lotus Club merged with the Ladies' Union, another Indian and Ceylonese women's club in Singapore, to form the Kamala Club, on the suggestion of Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru during his visit to Singapore in May 1950. Menon was appointed the president of the Kamala Club, and a farewell function was held for her on the club's official opening day as she was leaving Singapore on a trip.[5] In her absence, she was replaced as president by Mrs. M. M. Namazie.[6]
She was the secretary of the International Fortnightly Club, a member of the Family Planning Committee, a Juvenile Adviser in the Juvenile Court, a librarian at the Tan Tock Seng Hospital and the entertainments organiser of the Ramakrishna Mission Singapore.[1] She was also the chairman of the Relief Commission established by the Singaporean branch of the British Red Cross in response to the 1950 Assam–Tibet earthquake.[7]
Personal life
[edit]Menon was the sister of N. Raghavan and the wife of Kizhakke Mukkapuzha Raman Menon, a Mathematics lecturer at Raffles College.[8] She and her husband left for Chennai in March 1955.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Mrs. Menon To Go On Long Holiday". The Sunday Standard. Singapore. 27 May 1951. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ "INDIAN AFFAIRS". The Malaya Tribune. Singapore. 27 February 1931. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ Aggarwal, Vandana. "The Kamala Club: Planting the Seeds of a Pioneering Women's Organisation". BiblioAsia. National Library Board. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ "INDIAN DANCER". The Sunday Tribune. Singapore. 21 April 1935. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ "Two S'pore Women's Clubs Amalgamate". The Singapore Standard. Singapore. 21 May 1951. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ "MRS. M. NAMAZIE". The Straits Times. Singapore. 29 August 1951. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ "Sarongs, sarees for 'quake victims". The Singapore Free Press. Singapore. 20 September 1950. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ Pillai, Anita Devi; Arumugam, Puva (2017). From Kerala to Singapore: Voices from the Singapore Malayalee Community. Marshall Cavendish. p. 20. ISBN 9814721832.
- ^ "K. M. R. Menon Leaves For Madras". Indian Daily Mail. Singapore. 26 March 1955. Retrieved 20 May 2024.